It's been a while
It really has been. A very long while in fact, since I last sat down and wrote.
Not writing in general – I'm doing more of that than ever, though increasingly for non-human recipients – but writing an article, under my own name, sharing some personal thoughts on things I find interesting.
There's a reason for the absence: for the past eight years I've been busy building GRID, the data platform used by game developers and tournament organisers across the industry to power the official data layer for their esports. Back in 2018 esports data was a fragmented, fledgling space and GRID was just a handful of passionate people huddled in a Berlin coworking space, hellbent on changing that.
Today, GRID is over 100 people strong, and partners with names such as Riot Games, ESL FACEIT Group and Ubisoft, providing platform technology to enable a data layer used by competitors, fans, analysts and businesses across the globe. It's been an incredible journey.
So, a (re)introduction. Hi – I'm Chris, co-founder of GRID Esports, where I've spent the past eight years building and leading our product and engineering efforts as CTO.
These days, much of my energy goes into where the technology takes us next.
I think of myself as a product-focussed technologist. I love truly useful tech – not just the kind that does wildly complex things in elegant ways (though that too), but technology with a real purpose. The kind that becomes part of the foundations – that others build on, that outlasts its makers' attention, and that leaves its corner of the world working better than before.
It's this tenet – the thing that gets me up in the morning – that has me wanting to make time to write down a few thoughts more regularly.
You can probably guess what comes next. Yes: the world is in the early stages of a technology shift bigger than any that came before it. Those of us in software are seeing it first-hand, and earliest. AI systems this capable and with such general application won't leave any part of society untouched.
But for all the road that lies behind us, most of it is still ahead. And I believe the discipline of building things that are truly useful and built to enable sustainability, will decide whether AI gets woven into society well, or badly.
So that's what I'll be writing about: engineering useful, sustainable products in the age of AI, and what it takes to lead an organisation through changes this impactful. With a strong likelihood of some esports and data content mixed in, but surely that comes as a surprise to no-one?
Until next time,
Chris